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'Kids tell pros what to do’ – young people co-produce arts and culture in Umea, Sweden

"If grown-ups no longer can teach  children everything, why not simply  do it the other way round. Use what the children know and what the  grown-ups know. Use the ideas of children and young people and let professional adults make the most of them. Let kids tell pros what to do.”                                                               

Umeå will be the European Capital of Culture in 2014. In this case study the city shows you a different way to ‘do culture’ with children and young people.

Tony Bovaird was lucky enough to visit Umea in 2007 as an Assessor of the European Public Sector Awards (EPSA) and was deeply impressed by the way arts and culture projects were targeted at children and young people in the city and were based on co-production methods. Not surprisingly, Umea won the EPSA Innovation Award in 2007.

So if you think that it’s too risky for children to be involved in co-production, have a look at how Umea uses co-production to make learning for children more creative and fun.   

About this case study
Main Contact

Arne Berggren
Head of Kulturverket
City of Umea

Phone: 070-688 82
Mobil: 090-16 33 27
arne.berggren@umea.se

Beatrice Hammar wrote this case study for Governance International in June 2013. The case study was updated by Arne Berggren in May 2015.

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